MIND MELD: Great Genre Reads For Teenage Girls

Q: What genre books would you recommend to young teenage girls that read at an advanced level?

Here’s what they said…

Mari Ness

Mari Ness is a speculative short story writer. She lives in central Florida, and blogs weekly about children’s literature over at Tor.com.

I’m always a bit taken aback when I get a question like this, because my response is that young teenage girls that read at an advanced level should read, well, everything! At that point I was certainly still reading books that would be classified as young adult — but heading over to the science fiction and fantasy section whenever I could, and loving just about everything, the more epic and unrealistic, the better. (The one exception was The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, which I may have been a bit young for; I ended up loving Donaldson’s other, later stuff.) So I advise the same to any young teenage girl — go. Explore. Read whatever looks interesting. Some of it will suck. Some of it will make you babble endlessly to friends and family. Some of it will change your world.

Specific recommendations? That’s also tricky, without knowing what the girl might be looking for — epic? Funny? Romantic? I quite liked Ursula Le Guin’s Annals of the Western Shore series; Sorcery and Cecelia, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Steverner, an amusing blend of magic and humor, and Robin McKinley’s Beauty and Deerskin, for fairy tale lovers, and nearly anything by William Sleator for science fiction fans. More recent young adult books that I can recommend include Inara Scott’s The Candidates, an entertaining superpowered high school tale; Rae Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns, set in a land somewhat inspired by Spain, with a heroine who slowly learns how awesome she is; Justine Larbalestier’s Liar, which I can’t talk about without spoiling; Megan Whalen Turner’s Queen’s Thief series, ditto (but definitely start this series in the beginning); Nnedi Okorafor’s Zahrah the Windseeker, about a timid girl about to make a journey into a fabulous jungle. Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose still haunts me.

For those wanting to jump into adult stories — that was when I found Samuel Delany, Nancy Springer, J.R.R. Tolkien, Joe Haldeman, Douglas Adams, Julian May, Joan Vinge, Octavia Butler, Connie Willis, Lucy Maud Montgomery (I highly recommend seeking out her five volumes of journals) and other novelists that I really can’t exactly recommend, you understand. But it was a feast of reading, and something I encourage all readers to do: just explore, since this list is self evidently woefully incomplete.

Juliet Marillier

Juliet Marillier writes historical fantasy novels for adults and young adults. A Kiwi by birth, she now lives in Western Australia

I’m interpreting the question as meaning books with content suitable for young teenage readers (12-15) in which both the language and the ideas are reasonably challenging. At that age I was reading adult fiction along with some books aimed at young adults, and my parents let me make my own mistakes over reading choices. So there may be material in some of the books I recommend that some parents and/or librarians would think too ‘adult’ for readers at the lower end of the young adult age range.

The most obvious choices are classics of their genres. In science fiction, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – a thought-provoking novel that offers no easy answers. The sequels are less well suited to younger readers.

In fantasy I’d suggest Patricia McKillip’s books, perhaps starting with The Riddle-Master of Hed. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, a version of the Sleeping Beauty story set in the Holocaust, is a challenging but rewarding read. Then there’s Ursula K Leguin’s Earthsea sequence.

Some novels by contemporary writers that I can highly recommend: Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey, a novel for young adults set in New Zealand, with a wonderful, if unlikely, female protagonist and Maori mythology woven skilfully into a suspenseful story. A great read. Nation by Terry Pratchett. Thornspell by Helen Lowe, another New Zealand writer and, in fact, another Sleeping Beauty-based novel, with a considerable twist. Possibly, the recent novel by Margo Lanagan, The Brides of Rollrock Island (published in Australia as Sea Hearts) but this comes with a caveat: Lanagan’s work is extremely dark, and suited only to readers who are used to challenging material and adult concepts. She has also published several books of short stories. Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, an intriguing version of the fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, set in an Alaskan research station.

I have a new book coming out later this year, Shadowfell, which is a YA/adult crossover with a fifteen year old female narrator, set in an uncanny version of ancient Scotland. It’s a gritty and challenging story about tyranny and rebellion, ideal for the readership we’re discussing. Readers in this age group will also enjoy my earlier novels Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret which have historical settings and young female narrators – both are quite substantial in content.

Stina Leicht

Stina Leicht is a 2012 Campbell Award nominee. Her debut novel Of Blood and Honey, a historical Fantasy with an Irish Crime edge set in 1970s Northern Ireland, was released by Night Shade books in 2011 and was short-listed for the 2012 Crawford Award. The sequel, And Blue Skies from Pain is in bookstores now. She also has a flash fiction piece in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s surreal anthology Last Drink Bird Head.

Interestingly enough, I used to run a book club for teen girls. So, the subject is near and dear to me. The judgement that if it’s written for teens the themes must be simplistic is erroneous, by the way. Even The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (which is marketed as a Middle-grade) is richly woven with sophisticated ethics and social commentary. It’s all in how deeply one reads. If you’re asking about adult speculative fiction that I’d recommend, it wouldn’t be much different than fiction I’d recommend to anyone else. Females don’t put upon themselves the limitations to reading that male readers often do. (I’ve seen it, having worked in a bookstore for six years.) Girls read anything.

That said, here are my recommendations. First, I always push The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It’s important to understand why certain laws are in place. If you don’t understand, you’re more likely to let things slip without understanding the consequences. The Handmaid’s Tale contains themes that are extremely fitting for the current socio-political climate — frighteningly so. Atwood’s book is important, regardless of personal taste. If the readers in question enjoy dystopian fiction, I’d recommend Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and V for Vendetta by Alan Moore. If they want to venture into post-apocalyptic fiction, I’d say read The Postman by David Brin and Green Angel by Alice Hoffman first. Because post-apocalyptic as a genre tends to assume that women can’t survive as anything but a commodity and/or aren’t worthy of survival. Therefore, it’s a good idea to see two novels that don’t assume women exist only at the sufferance of men and technology and good manners — that women wouldn’t have anything to contribute to rebuilding civilisation. The truth is, the world couldn’t be rebuilt without women playing an active role. Period. We actively helped build this one, after all. Just because society pretends otherwise doesn’t change the facts.

In fantasy and urban fantasy, I’d mention the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, anything by Charles de Lint, the Borderlands anthologies and novels, anything by Holly Black, Ellen Kushner, Betsy James, Francesca Lia Block, Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman, Octavia Butler, Terry Pratchett, Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear, Cherie Priest, N.K. Jemisin, and Elizabeth Moon. If they’re into vampires, I’d have to point out Nancy Collins and Charlie Huston. (But then, vampires fall under horror for me.) Also, I can’t help mentioning The Princess Bride by William Goldman. As much as the film is a comfort when I’m stressed or sick, the book is a totally different experience. It’s funny and sarcastic and marvelous. It also rips the traditional princess fairy tale a new orifice.

In sci-fi, I’d talk about The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, God’s War by Kameron Hurley and Push of Sky a short story collection by Camille Alexa. Then there’s The Laundry series by Charlie Stross. (Although it rests on the border between fantasy and sci-fi.) Elizabeth Moon should be on this list too because Speed of Dark is amazing. Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon is great fun. Under the old school category, I’d have to go with Ray Bradbury, C.J. Cherryh (specifically Cyteen and The Faded Sun series) also Dune by Frank Herbert. I’m behind on my sci-fi reading, I’m afraid. Jo Clayton’s Skeen series is on my list, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.

Helen Lowe

Helen Lowe is a novelist, poet, and interviewer, and the current Ursula Bethell Writer-in-Residence at the University of Canterbury. She has won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for both Thornspell (Knopf) in 2009, and The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night Book One) in 2011. The Heir of Night has also recently been shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award. Helen posts every day on her Helen Lowe on Anything, Really blog, on the 1st of every month on the Supernatural Underground, and occasionally on SF Signal. You can also follow her on Twitter: @helenl0we.

In terms of looking at books I would personally recommend to young teenage girls (i. e. 13-15) that read at an advanced level, I am going to be swayed by the kind of books I liked at a similar age. (I was also one of those advanced readers.) I also intend using similar selection criteria, the primary one being: is it a good story that will primarily entertain while having some ‘meat’ on it in terms of use of language and the intellectual and emotional ‘grunt’ of the story being told. (At that age, I never picked up a book because I read the back cover blurb and thought: “oh my, this seems worthy.” I always started reading because I thought: “this sounds like a really interesting story.”)

For these reasons I don’t believe adult books that check the other criteria should be excluded from the list, especially as the premise is advanced readers. That means young women with a good vocabulary, who are already putting two and two together about the world around them, and most likely have a high level of intellectual curiosity. But who still want to have fun (nods to Cyndi Lauper)–so yes, absolutely, to adventure, magic, and characters who think outside the square. But we’re talking young teen women, which means that romance, while not a prerequisite, is definitely a bonus. Again, I don’t think having a female protagonist is an absolute, but I do believe it is affirming for young women to have some female protagonists to identify with. So that is another important criterion for the list.

Obviously if I were making a list for a specific teen girl then I would take her particular interests into consideration. So a young woman who loved baking for instance–well, I’d be strongly inclined to add Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, just for the descriptions of the food! If she were big into archery though, then The Hunger Games would be a shoe-in.

But now, the list, which is a kind of Top Ten, starting with the McKs:

– Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy, for the depth of the story and beauty of the language, but particularly the second book, Heir of Sea and Fire, with its strong friendship between the three female protagonists Raederle, Lyra and Tristan.

– Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword because of the world building and the character of Angharad/Hari, who learns that the hardest part of being a damalur-sol (lady hero) is standing up for what you believe to be right, even if it means standing alone.

– Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight–although I admit it was a toss-up with The Ship Who Sang–because there are dragons! And the romance–but mainly on account of Lessa, the main character, who is strong and smart but also very human, i.e. she’s far from perfect but that, of course, makes her very real.

– Barbara Hambly’s The Ladies of Mandrigyn. Again, this was a toss-up with Dragonsbane, but The Ladies of Mandrigyn won out because of the contrasting characters of Star Hawk, the woman warrior, and Fawn, who has probably never picked up a sword in her life, and the wonderful “band of sisters,” Sheera Galernas and the eponymous ladies of Mandrigyn–while not leaving out the equally strong male character of Sun Wolf.

– Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts’ Daughter of the Empire–again because of the world building and the array of wonderful characters, but mostly due to the main character, Mara, who is a smart, courageous survivor, when survival is dependent on thinking outside the square.

– Ru Emerson’s The Princess of Flames–this isn’t a book or a writer you hear a lot about now but it’s such a great story, with fascinating characters, and Elfrid is a wonderful heroine: a young woman forced to become a soldier of fortune, who feels very ‘real’ both emotionally and in that role.

– Katherine Kerr’s Daggerspell–speaking of young women soldiers of fortune, I can’t go past the young silver dagger, but also dweomer adept, Gill. I also love Kerr’s Celtic world of Deverry and intriguing magic (dweomer), as well as her fascinating take on elves and dwarves. And did I say–great story!

– Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass–Lyra Belacqua, an alternate Oxford, daemons and panzer bjorn and Finnish witches: I probably need say no more. Except there’s also that fascinating exploration of repressive religious orthodoxy in the form of Mrs Coulter, and unbridled free will in the guise of Lord Asriel…

– Tamora Pierce’s Lioness Quartet–Tamora Pierce has written so many good stories, all series, and every follower has their favourites. Mine are the Lioness quartet, about Alanna, the young woman who decides to become a knight–and is also a mage–and disguises herself as a boy to do so, and The Protector of the Small series. The latter features Keladry, a young woman who also pursues the knightly path, only not in disguise and without the mage powers. But I opted for Alanna because it is the first series and the best introduction to Pierce’s Tortall world.

– Connie Willis’ The Doomsday Book–needless to say, there were so many contenders for the tenth spot, but in the end I went with Willis because history is one of my great loves and I particularly like the way she has interwoven historical realism with speculative fiction. And perhaps because I’ve realised–a little guiltily–that my list is weighted toward Fantasy and The Doomsday Book is a classic work of SFF.

A whole raft of great stories and all standout genre in some way–because of their world building, their characters, their asking of the “what if?” questions–or all of the above. Any young woman of 13 to 15 years reading them could expect to find herself entertained and engaged, but also, I hope, with plenty to chew on in terms of food for thought.

I would’ve read it, but then I was reading Stephen King at age seventeen, and my understanding of ‘teenage’ and ‘advanced’ is clearly different than yours. Also, my sister was reading “Flowers in the Attic” at age fifteen. “Go Ask Alice” was practically recommended reading when I was fourteen. (It was used to scare kids away from drugs and still is, from what I understand.) Purhaps your memories of being a teenager are a bit foggy, or maybe mine are? [shrug] One thing is for sure, what is appropriate for a teen is an individual thing.

I don’t think I should admit to when I read Flowers in the Attic. (or even that I did.) But I think many people would have felt it inappropriate for my age.

I also read Stephen King when I was 13 — I loved it. And I recall many of us in high school passing around Pet Semetary and Carrie happily. Probably inappropriate, but…well, if my memory is correct, reading books inappropriate for our age was about the least of it.

I think for a lot of us in our early teen years, “Flowers in the Attic” was a guilty, possibly forbidden read that we liked to think made us sophisticated and wordly to have read. Yeah, it’s pretty trashy, but at the same time it did manage to create a new little niche market. I think Charles Brown at Locus said that it spawned a new-ish “children in peril” trend in mainstream fiction.

But back to the topic, I agree with Stina that we’re talking about mature readers who can probably handle some sex and violence. “The Hunger Games” has plenty of the latter (although none of the former), and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to any teen (boy or girl) of any age, if I thought the teen was mature enough to handle it.

Andy, You are quite right, Babel-17 is by Samuel R Delaney. It is both a classic story, imho, and a longtime favourite of mine and I am suitably embarrassed by my error: my apologies to SF Signal readers.

Many of the suggestions mentioned before are very good. Of older material, I would strongly recommend many of the works of James Schmitz, who almost always featured strong female lead characters (the Telzey Amberdon series, Trigger Argee, and especially _The Demon Breed_ AKA The Tuvela), or had very strong secondary females when the lead was male (The Witches of Karres).

Thank you very much for such thoughtful recommendations! I’m pretty sure I suggested this topic for my 2 daughters and you’ve all nailed the criteria and issues and have come up with fantastic ideas for them. They’ve read a few of the books here and seemed to like them all very much. A few books in particular they’ve enjoyed recently included:

Ender’s Game
Speed of Dark
Flowers for Algernon
Harry Potter (especially the later ones)
Gail Carriger’s Changeless series
Among Others by Jo Walton
Life As We Knew It- The Last Survivors Series, Book 1 by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfield
The Runaways graphic novels
The Handmaid’s Tale